Despite absence of an official birdwalk posting for yesterday, several of us landed up at Sultanpur and were pleasantly rewarded with few good birding hours to kickstart the week of Diwali. Birding within the NP was as usual good, with Hume's warbler, Bluethroat, Red-breasted Flycatchers, Oriental White eyes, Scaly-bellied Munia and Ashy Prinias creating a lovely music in morning sunlight. Waterfowl comprised of Shovellers, Pintails, few Gadwalls, flocks of Graylag Geese, a lone Bar-headed Goose, Common Coots, Little Grebes and few Euraisan Wigeons. Pochards were again conspicously missing. Painted Storks, Greater Cormorants, Darters and a single Eurasian Spoonbill flying overhead were seen. Black-necked Stork was at it's nest. Sind Sparrow on the trees lining the approach to waterbody was good to spot as well. A lone Bonelli's Eagle harried the ducks and in turn was harried by Drongos and Crows a tenth of it's size. No other raptor spotted within the park.
Soon, we decided to check out fields behind the Monkey point which is little ahead of NP. Most of the area is freshly ploughed and there was lot of human disturbance. Still managed to spot some interesting species here. Flock of Plain Martins, Streak throated Swallows, a lone Long-billed Pipit, few Tawny Pipits, Indian Bushlark, flock of Spanish Sparrows, Silverbills, Crested Lark, Greater Short-Toed Larks and ultimately a Variable Wheatear, looking tired, sat on a fieldpost for what seemed like eternity untill another one joined it and they flew together in the fields. A Eurasian Wryneck sat quietly at the base of a shrub, shielding itself from the Sun, totally unperturbed by our presence. We didn't need binoculars to see all it's patterns. It sat so close. Admiring it's cryptic beauty with naked eyes, we quietly moved away leaving it sitting there.
The other group reported a Short-eared owl, an Isabelline Shrike, Eurasian Curlews and Common Cranes from fields.
On the way back, we stopped at Basai for a few minutes and were thrilled to see Sarus Cranes at close quarters in the fields. Flocks of Weavers, probably Streaked Weavers are inhabiting the fields. Common Starlings, Ruffs, Green and Common Sandpipers and other usual waterfowl were seen. White-tailed Lapwing and Little-ringed Plover were nice to spot too. As we prepared to reverse the cars, Sarus Crane took to air like a shot from Top Gun, circled back in the air and decided to fly towards us, leaving us totally thrilled with the experience.
Overall, a very satisfying birding.
Complete list of birds is below followed by the map of area.
| Species | Scientific Name |
| Grey Francolin | Francolinus pondicerianus |
| Indian Peafowl | Pavo cristatus |
| Greylag Goose | Anser anser |
| Bar-headed Goose | Anser indicus |
| Comb Duck | Sarkidiornis melanotos |
| Lesser Whistling-duck | Dendrocygna javanica |
| Gadwall | Anas strepera |
| Eurasian Wigeon | Anas penelope |
| Spot-billed Duck | Anas poecilorhyncha |
| Northern Shoveler | Anas clypeata |
| Northern Pintail | Anas acuta |
| Common Teal | Anas crecca |
| Eurasian Wryneck | Jynx torquilla |
| Brown-headed Barbet | Megalaima zeylanica |
| Common Hoopoe | Upupa epops |
| Green Bee-eater | Merops orientalis |
| Indian Roller | Coracias benghalensis |
| White-throated Kingfisher | Halcyon smyrnensis |
| Greater Coucal | Centropus sinensis |
| Rose-ringed Parakeet | Psittacula krameri |
| Rock Pigeon | Columba livia |
| Laughing Dove | Streptopelia senegalensis |
| Eurasian Collared Dove | Streptopelia decaocto |
| White-breasted Waterhen | Amaurornis phoenicurus |
| Purple Swamphen | Porphyrio porphyrio |
| Common Moorhen | Gallinula chloropus |
| Common Coot | Fulica atra |
| Sarus Crane | Grus antigone |
| Black Kite | Milvus migrans |
| Bonelli's Eagle | Hieraaetus fasciatus |
| Common Kestrel | Falco tinnunculus |
| Red-wattled Lapwing | Vanellus indicus |
| White-tailed Lapwing | Vanellus leucurus |
| Black-winged Stilt | Himantopus himantopus |
| Green Sandpiper | Tringa ochropus |
| Ruff | Philomachus pugnax |
| Little Grebe | Tachybaptus ruficollis |
| Darter | Anhinga melanogaster |
| Little Cormorant | Phalacrocorax niger |
| Great Cormorant | Phalacrocorax carbo |
| Little Egret | Egretta garzetta |
| Grey Heron | Ardea cinerea |
| Purple Heron | Ardea purpurea |
| Great Egret | Casmerodius albus |
| Intermediate Egret | Mesophoyx intermedia |
| Cattle Egret | Bubulcus ibis |
| Indian Pond Heron | Ardeola grayii |
| Black-headed Ibis | Threskiornis melanocephalus |
| Black Ibis | Pseudibis papillosa |
| Eurasian Spoonbill | Platalea leucorodia |
| Painted Stork | Mycteria leucocephala |
| Woolly-necked Stork | Ciconia episcopus |
| Black-necked Stork | Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus |
| Oriental White-eye | Zosterops palpebrosus |
| Lesser Whitethroat | Sylvia curruca |
| Common Babbler | Turdoides caudata |
| Large Grey Babbler | Turdoides malcolmi |
| Jungle Babbler | Turdoides striata |
| White-eared Bulbul | Pycnonotus leucotis |
| Red-vented Bulbul | Pycnonotus cafer |
| Plain Martin | Riparia paludicola |
| Wire-tailed Swallow | Hirundo smithii |
| Streak-throated Swallow | Hirundo fluvicola |
| Blyth's Reed Warbler | Acrocephalus dumetorum |
| Booted Warbler | Hippolais caligata |
| Common Tailorbird | Orthotomus sutorius |
| Common Chiffchaff | Phylloscopus collybita |
| Hume's Warbler | Phylloscopus humei |
| Greenish Warbler | Phylloscopus trochiloides |
| Indian Silverbill | Lonchura malabarica |
| Indian Bushlark | Mirafra erythroptera |
| Greater Short-toed Lark | Calandrella brachydactyla |
| Zitting Cisticola | Cisticola juncidis |
| Ashy Prinia | Prinia socialis |
| Plain Prinia | Prinia inornata |
| Streaked Weaver | Ploceus manyar |
| White Wagtail | Motacilla alba |
| Citrine Wagtail | Motacilla citreola |
| Yellow Wagtail | Motacilla flava |
| Tawny Pipit | Anthus campestris |
| Long-billed Pipit | Anthus similis |
| Spanish Sparrow | Passer hispaniolensis |
| Sind Sparrow | Passer pyrrhonotus |
| Purple Sunbird | Cinnyris asiaticus |
| Black Drongo | Dicrurus macrocercus |
| Rufous Treepie | Dendrocitta vagabunda |
| House Crow | Corvus splendens |
| Rufous-tailed Shrike | Lanius isabellinus |
| Long-tailed Shrike | Lanius schach |
| Common Starling | Sturnus vulgaris |
| Asian Pied Starling | Sturnus contra |
| Common Myna | Acridotheres tristis |
| Bank Myna | Acridotheres ginginianus |
| Bluethroat | Luscinia svecica |
| Oriental Magpie Robin | Copsychus saularis |
| Indian Robin | Saxicoloides fulicatus |
| Siberian Stonechat | Saxicola maurus |
| Pied Bushchat | Saxicola caprata |
| Variable Wheatear | Oenanthe picata |
| Red-breasted Flycatcher | Ficedula parva |
View Larger Map
